In
1951 Winford was searching for an idea for a book that would be "something
different," when a chance meeting with a former female impersonator
gave him the idea. He spent three years researching and contacting
performers from all over the country. In his epilogue he recounts
how difficult this was, as he was met with suspicion from many who
feared being made the subject of ridicule and gossip. While many of
the attitudes in his writing are outdated by today's standards, it
is my impression that the project evolved into an earnest attempt
to present this as a legitimate form of entertainment. He stated:

The
book was obviously a self-published effort, and I doubt it received
much distribution at all. Consequently it is very rare, and when it
can be found at all, for example on eBay, it fetches $100 or so for
a copy. In the first 55 pages he traces the history of female impersonation,
going back centuries, but of course most fascinating is the photo
section, featuring over 375 pictures. He begins, as most studies do,
with Julian Eltinge, and features some of the more famous, like Karyl
Norman and Francis Renault. But the majority are those artists from
the 40s and 50s, the majority of whom were still active at the time
of this publication.

In
the scans you'll see text on most pages, in (unbelievably) point 5
or 6 font, hard to read even when holding the book in your hands,
so I've also done larger scans of just the text blocks, so that those
really dedicated readers can sample his descriptions. Obviously I've
had to spread out the information over quite a few pages.

I
found several things noteworthy. The use of the term "Femme Mimics,"
of course we do not hear at all today, being replaced by "Female
Impersonators" or "Drag Queens." I have to wonder how
common the "Femme Mimics" term was in the early 50s when
he compiled his book. Also notice how many of them used male names,
or at least names of neutral gender, and how many were what we would
likely consider quite a bit older than the artists we see today.